Shake-ups in the Legislature, contentious races and who'll have the final say on wolf hunting

A wolf rests in the snow. Next week, voters will weigh-in on whether Michigan wolf hunting laws should stay in place. The outcome could be blocked by a law the legislature approved last summer.

Credit USFWS Midwest

This Week in Michigan Politics, Emily Fox and Jack Lessenberry discuss what could happen to the state Legislature after the election, possible surprises in congressional races and the wolf hunting proposal votes which may not matter.

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Listen to Jack and Emily discuss this week's events in Michigan politics.

State Legislature

Republicans in the Michigan House of Representatives currently have 59 seats over the 51 controlled by Democrats.

While it doesn’t seem likely Republicans will lose that majority after the election, Lessenberry said several Tea Party candidates could cause some shake-ups.

“These folks are likely to win legislative seats, and they’re going to be very adamant about trying to move the House leadership far to the right,” he said. “This could be a real game changer, and if Gov. Snyder is re-elected, a real thorn in his side as well as the Democrats’.”

The Tea Party candidates running for legislative seats are Todd Courser, Cindy Gamrat and Gary Glenn.

Congressional races

There may be some surprises in store for Congress as the numbers roll in next Tuesday evening.

Lessenberry said there are several congressional races that initially didn’t look like much of a fight, but now he’s watching them closely.

One of those races is in the 11th District, where incumbent Congressman Kerry Bentivolio is running on a write-in campaign against Republican David Trott.

Trott defeated Bentivolio in the election primary.

“(Bentivolio) would be very happy if he could defeat David Trott, whether he wins or whether the Democrat wins,” Lessenberry said. “Any vote he gets is a vote taken away from Trott.“

Wolf-hunting proposal

Next week, voters will weigh-in on two statewide ballot proposals which ask if laws protecting wolf hunting in Michigan should stay in place.

However, there’s a question of whether their say will matter.

Last August, the Legislature approved a new law which has the power to keep current wolf-hunting laws in place, regardless of what voters decide.

Lessenberry said the issue will likely end up in court, where he said voters could still make a difference.

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It looks likely there will be more Tea Party Republicans in the Legislature next year. And one of the likely new tea partiers in the state House says they may want one of their own to be the new Republican leader.

Todd Courser won the GOP primary in a very Republican-leaning seat. That means he’s probably likely headed to Lansing next year. And he says Tea Partiers in the Legislature will be looking for something different in the new House leadership team.

“What I would like to see is a vocal conservative voice that is willing to stand, really, and make sure that we’re moving legislation forward that actually meets the criteria of being conservative, and fits the platform of the party,” says Courser.

He says larger budgets, the Medicaid expansion, and the Common Core curriculum standards don’t fit that definition. He says the freshman Tea Party class in the state House might put forward one of its members as a candidate for House Republican leader for the coming session of the Legislature.

There's a political battle brewing in Michigan's 11th Congressional District.

Put simply: A Republican Congressman who was thumped in the primary decided to mount a write-in campaign, even though it could drain off enough votes to send the Democratic candidate to Washington.

Republican Kerry Bentivolio, sometimes known as "the accidental congressman," was the only Michigan congressman to lose his primary in August. That means new faces are running for the 11th District seat: Republican Dave Trott, who beat Bentivolio in the primary, and Democrat Bobby McKenzie.

Detroit Free Press Washington reporter Todd Spangler has been following the race. He says while McKenzie is a relative newcomer, Trott has deep ties to local political circles and strong backing by the mainstream Republican party.

Michigan voters will get to weigh in on two laws that allowed wolf hunting in the Upper Peninsula.

The Humane Society just started airing ads aimed at persuading voters in the closing days of the campaign season, but whether people vote “yes” or “no” on wolf hunting, the two ballot questions are not the final word on the issue.

That’s because the ballot campaign on its own will not determine the future of wolf hunting in Michigan.